Roger Corman still the Cult Classic King

Raised in Detroit before relocating to California at the age of 14 with his family, Roger Corman’s parents never suspected a simple gift would help drive their young son’s career towards Hollywood.

“I read Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher for a school assignment,” recalled Corman from his office in Los Angeles. “I really loved it and asked my parents for the complete works of Poe for Christmas one year. They were delighted because I could have asked for something less academic like a shotgun! I read every story, and when I got the chance to make movies, Usher was the first Poe film I made.”

1. Roger Corman and frequent star Vincent Price between setups for one of several Edgar Allan Poe movies they made.(Photo: submitted)

By then, in 1960, Corman was already a veteran filmmaker with 40 movies to his credit. Beginning with a few westerns and crime dramas he wrote in the 50s, Corman quickly established his niche as a director and producer in the world of low-budget, cult movies.

Although he initially studied engineering at Stanford University, Corman began writing film reviews for the college newspaper and refocused his career after graduation.

“My father was an engineer and I intended to follow in his footsteps, but movies became my real passion. Careful planning is important in engineering, so I used that experience to focus on film preproduction. With the low budgets I had, I couldn’t afford to have the cast and crew waiting around for days on a 10-day picture while I figured out how and what to shoot.”

In addition to the Poe horror influence, a 1936 British sci-fi film also made an early impact on Corman.

“I would go to Saturday matinees and watch westerns and crime films. When I saw my first science fiction film, Things to Come, it awoke my interest in sci-fi. It continues to this day with my current project, Death Race 2050, which is an updated remake of my black sci-fi comedy Death Race 2000 from 1975.”

Crowned by fans and critics as the King of the B-movies, Corman – who turned 90 this year – has produced and/or directed over 400 films. Eight were based on the works of Poe, although in 1963’s The Raven he tempered the author’s usual dark themes with light comedy.

“I never intended to do a series of Poe films, but Usher was so successful that American International Pictures wanted me to make more,” said Corman, who recalls meeting with AIP head Jim Nicholson over lunch to discuss transposing Poe’s famed narrative poem to film.

Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Vincent Price in a promo photo for The Raven.(Photo: submitted)

“We realized the Poe movies were becoming a little repetitive and decided to treat The Raven as a comedy horror,” said Corman. “We also had to build the story around new characters that were not in the poem. Initially, we only had Vincent Price signed, then added Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff.”

Corman says the trio of Hollywood legends got along well.

“There was no battle of egos, just a little discussion about technique. Peter loved to improvise, but Boris did not. Boris pointed out he was a classically trained actor who learned his lines from the script and came prepared to deliver them as written. ‘It puts me off,’ he told me of Peter’s improvisations.”

Corman gathered the actors for coffee and laid down some guidelines.

“I told Peter I loved what he did, but that we needed to stay a bit closer to the script. Vincent was cool with it either way.”

Don Rickles and Ray Milland in X - The Man with the X-ray Eyes.(Photo: submitted)

While Price starred in most of Corman’s Poe films, he used Ray Milland in Premature Burial as well the 1962 non-Poe horror sci-fi thriller X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes.

“Whereas Vincent was always sort of a character star, Ray was this handsome leading man who played romantic roles, so he brought a different quality to the screen. X was also one of Don Rickles’ first films. I was surprised that Don was actually a little nervous because he was known as this brash comedian. But I reminded him this was a movie, and that we could do the scenes over if needed and that put him at ease.”

Like many directors, Corman often drew from a stable of favorite actors such as Price, as well as Ed Nelson, Jack Nicholson, and many others. Dick Miller first appeared in Corman’s “Apache Woman” in 1955 and would go on to appear in dozens of Corman films.

“I met Roger quite by accident,” recalled Miller from Los Angeles. “I was a not very successful writer at the time and a friend, who was working with Roger, said he would put a plug in for me. When Roger told me he needed actors, not writers, I said ‘I’m an actor too!’ So he hired me and I probably wouldn’t have been in this business as an actor if it wasn’t for Roger.”

Miller appeared in hundreds of films and TV shows and was featured in the 2014 documentary, “That Dick Miller Guy” (see thatguydickmiller.com). He also recalls sustaining a few injuries working on Corman’s films.

“I think I broke something on every other one!” he laughed. “On the (1967) western The Long Ride Home (actually renamed A Time for Killing), I was riding my horse and came to an unexpected drop in the road and broke my tailbone. The noise of the bone breaking was so loud I thought it came from somewhere else! But as a director, Roger was easy to work with and very non-interfering. He worked fast because he had no money and could make a film in a week.”

“I like working with versatile actors like Dick,” said Corman. “In another horror comedy I did, A Bucket of Blood, Dick plays a busboy working in a beatnik coffee shop. You feel sympathy for the character struggling as an aspiring artist but laugh because of Dick’s great comedic skills.”

Dick Miller in the Roger Corman directed and produced 1959 film, 'A Bucket of Blood'.(Photo: submitted)

With Halloween approaching, several Corman films have been featured on cable channels in October. Turner Classic Movies will broadcast “Dementia 13” on the 31st.

So what can today’s budding filmmakers take away from viewing Roger Corman's films?

“It’s not so much watching them but understanding how they were made – the preparation and willingness to deviate when necessary especially if you’re on a low budget,” said Corman. “I also took every film I made seriously and did my best on every one.”

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 600 magazines and newspapers. See www.tinseltowntalks.com.